It was with great zeal and excitement that Yoshnee Pillay, a South African citizen hailing from Cape Town, set foot in Kerala about one and a half months ago. For the 37-year-old, Kerala was not just a random spot she picked out for holidaying but the state where her great grandfather hailed from. In 1903, he was among the hundreds shipped to South Africa by the British to work in bonded labour. This is Yoshnee's first visit to Kerala, to embark on a journey to find her ancestral roots, but alas, just two days after she landed, the state went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yoshnee and her friend are now stranded in a homestay called ‘Kochill’ at Fort Kochi in Ernakulam district. Neither knowing whom to reach out for help to find her ancestral links in the state, nor how long the lockdown will be in place, Yoshnee is still trying whatever is possible to find leads to her extended family.
When the British shipped off her maternal great grandfather to work in the sugarcane fields of South Africa, he was all of 19.
“Following the end of apartheid in 1990, the Indian community there started to grow, especially in the city of Durban. Over the last 160 years, it has been mind-blowing to see the growth of Indians there in academics, business etc.,” Yoshnee observes. Referring to herself and others of Indian heritage in South Africa, she adds, “Though we speak English and dress in western clothes, culturally, we are very much like Indians. But sadly, I do not have any details about my roots back here. Though I had tried a couple of times to find some leads from there, it had been in vain.”
The very little information that Yoshnee has about her great grandfather is from the document the British officials handed to him as he was shipped to South Africa. In it, he is identified as ‘K Kistna Nambiar’. But when this reporter pointed out that the name could probably be ‘Krishna or Krishnan’ – a popular Malayali Hindu name, Yoshnee agrees that it could have been a pronunciation mistake on part of the British officers.
The document also specifies that the person’s father’s name is K Muni Nair and that he hailed from ‘Malabar district’. At present, though there is no district in Kerala called ‘Malabar’, it refers to the northern Kerala districts. The ‘taluq’ or ‘thanna’ (probably taluk) mentioned in the documents is Kurumbranad, and the village is identified as ‘Parambra Amsham’.
According to Basel Mission Archives, an online resource that has a comprehensive selection of digitised visual and cartographic material, Kurumbranad comprised of parts of the present day Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
Though Kerala is locked down, it has not dampened Yoshnee’s spirits. “With the help of my homestay owner’s friend, who is a government employee in Kerala, I’m trying to figure out if there are any other documents available. However, he is also keeping quite busy at present,” she says.
Yoshnee says that she set out to India without much planning. “It was one of my friends who suggested we should go to India. I was doubly excited because my roots are from here. I feel it is my responsibility to my family, and my [Indian] community in South Africa, to find this link to India, to which we feel connected by heart,” she adds.
In the brief time Yoshnee has now spent in Kerala, the state has swept her off her feet. “First of all, it's magical that I feel at home here. I am also amazed by the people – they are so compassionate and loving.”
“By the time we had reached here after a short visit to Goa, everyone was scared about COVID-19. But our homestay owner was so compassionate, he received us warmly and has been taking good care of us,” says Yoshnee.
She also says that she is amazed at the way the government is taking care of the people here. In a Facebook post addressing the South African President, Yoshnee wrote about how overwhelmed she is by the Kerala government’s efforts, and the hospitality of the state’s people.
“I think South Africa has a lot to learn from how things are being managed here. I hope my Facebook post reaches our authorities back there,” Yoshnee says.
While her initial plan was to stay in Kerala for 90 days, with lockdown putting the brakes on her efforts to trace her roots, she is planning to extend her one year visa.
As she ends the phone conversation with the reporter, Yoshnee, with hope evident in her voice, says, “I now see why Kerala is called god’s own country. I really hope to find out about my family here.”